Chapter 11: Adventures of Frankie

Go fly a kite

Paulette kicked a pinecone down the wooded path. This was the shortcut from her best friend’s house. Rita the redhead was grounded. Not that she did anything wrong, no, her father was just in one of his moods. At least that’s how she always put it. Frankie wasn’t around either, he was at Little League which gave her an idea, the kite she got when they were visiting Frankie’s grandparents in Florida, the soccer field at school would be a great place to fly!

Frankie pushed his old bike up the grassy hill between the baseball and soccer fields. As he threw a leg over the duct tape-covered banana seat, he spotted Paulette running at full blast with a kite just off the ground, tail dragging behind. He let out a laugh then pushed off down the hill. When he got close enough for her to hear he dropped his bike, bat and glove, gracefully stepped in her direction then called out, “Need a hand?”

She turned with a smile, “Yeah, but I’m not sure there’s enough wind to get it up.”

“Not like the beach. Let’s try anyway.” He walked toward the kite then held it high in the air.

They took turns holding the kite and line as they ran one way down the field then back again. Giving up, they collapsed onto the well-manicured grass. The football and baseball fields never looked this good. That’s probably because the football team hadn’t won a home game in years and their hometown was never really into baseball. This was a soccer town, complete with soccer moms, mini vans and even soccer dads!

Paulette was the first to point out a cool shaped cloud. “Look at that Frankie, it looks like a kite.”

“Yeah, it even has a tail.”

“Check out that jet. Betcha the stream passes across there to make a string.”